


Mermaid Pants

by Green_Sphynx



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pining Lance (Voltron), Season 2 Episode 2 The Depths - freeform, mermaid lance, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 07:03:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18987670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Green_Sphynx/pseuds/Green_Sphynx
Summary: Anyone else who was deeply disappointed when Lance said "I don’t need pants… I’m a mermaid" in his sleep, and not only didn’t he turn into a mermaid, he even still had his pants on in the next shot?Yeah. Now imagine he did turn into a mermaid after all. It was easier when it was just a dream.





	Mermaid Pants

**Author's Note:**

> Just feeding my need for MerMay stuff before May is over.

_"I don't need pants… I'm a mermaid."_

 

How it happened exactly was really vague… a loopy memory that you weren't sure if it was a dream or reality, and there were these large parts missing leaving only certain thoughts and moments from it.

And usually this meant it really was a dream, even if that took a while to fully sink in. Pun not intended.

Because being somehow turned into a mermaid had _not_ been a dream, or Lance would not be stuck in a bathtub right now while Coran was trying to make the castle suitable for housing him with his new biology.

The positive note was that Lance was able to breathe air as well as water, his lungs apparently morphed to an organ that could get oxygen out of either.

The negative one was that the transition was painful and required Lance to choke up all the water from his lungs, or if the other way around, let his lungs fill with water while all his body's natural reflexes tried to avoid drowning.

Another downside was that Lance's new lower body did not last out of the water for long, and would dry out completely in maybe one or two hours - they hadn't tried to find his limit yet and he wasn't all that eager to try it.

Lance sighed heavily, draping himself over the edge of the tub that Coran and Hunk had dragged into the medbay for him.

"Maybe we can put a tub on wheels," Hunk mused, looking far too concentrated for a genius engineer thinking of something so stupid.

"No way," Lance interjected immediately. "I'm already getting all stiff and achy from being stuck in this little tub for a few hours. I need to _move_."

"Well, we can't flood the whole castle," Pidge pointed out, and Lance just drooped back in place, grumbling under his breath.

He knew he was not being very reasonable, complaining about that, but it still felt mean. How would _they_ feel being stuck in a tub for the rest of their lives?

"We need to consider how Lance is going to fly the Blue Lion as well," Allura added thoughtfully. "And on missions… we can't afford being one paladin down."

"Maybe we can create some sort of… moisturising sleeve for Lance to wear around his tail, that lets him be out of the water."

This had Lance perk up. A much better idea than the tub on wheels, and more like something he expected from Hunk.

"Putting his tail in a skincare bag isn't going to let him walk, and we're not carrying him around on every mission." Keith sounded a whole lot less reasonable.

"We could make a frame for him to lean in, with wheels?" Pidge hazarded, and Shiro was quick to back this up.

"Like a wheelchair?"

"Oh yeah, a mermaid in a wheelchair, can you see me sneaking around the Galra ships, hiding in small corners, climbing through air vents, running for my life while they're shooting." Lance made a grand gesture with his arm as if to make them imagine it, and for a moment Shiro seemed to be following the movement as if actually falling for it despite the heavy sarcasm in Lance's voice. Then Shiro frowned when the obvious realisation hit, and Lance kind of regretted the change in Shiro's face.

Shiro was too cute, always trying to find solutions for any problem a team member had.

"We have missions that don't involve sneaking around a Galra ship," Allura reminded them. "We simply have to be more selective on which paladin does what. And we can make you more nimble than you think, using Altean technology."

Lance had to give them that one, and soon everyone was filing out of the medbay. Hunk and Pidge to find Coran and discuss the possibilities for this supertech wheelchair, Allura to get back to the bridge, Keith to go train. Shiro stayed behind, and Lance wasn't sure why.

Not that he was complaining. He could never have _too much_ of Shiro.

Ever since he first saw the man his crush had been big and active, and working closely with him in a team, _following_ him as his leader… it was more than Lance had ever dared hope for.

He had definitely never dared hope Shiro would see something in him as well, no matter how much he ached in his pining for the black paladin.

And now… now it was out of the question altogether. If he didn't think Shiro could develop feelings for a skinny boy who made jokes nobody liked to try relieve tense situations, then there was no way the man would have any interest in a half fish. Lance wasn't human anymore. He had no legs, he needed to remain in water to survive… his anus was on his _front_ , for fuck's sake. He was lucky Shiro wasn't watching him with clear disgust in his eyes.

_...Shiro was watching him._

Lance pushed himself upright in the tub nervously, holding on to the edge he had himself draped over before.

"Uh, anything wrong, Shiro?"

"Yes," Shiro answered, deep in thought, before quickly correcting himself. "I mean, no. I just… wanted to ask how you're holding up, Lance."

Lance almost made a joke of it, along the lines of 'with his arms' as if Shiro meant how he was physically holding himself up. But the look on Shiro's face stopped him, and he ended up looking away and needing to clear his throat awkwardly - too dry and painful after the vomiting he had done earlier with the transition from water to air.

"I'm uh… alright, I guess? I know I'm going to be a burden for the team like this-"

"Stop right there." The command was fast and sharp, and Lance gulped in a breath, his teeth clacking together to obey. "Don't worry about the team, that's _my_ job here. You just got your body modified without your consent, so I want to make sure _you_ are alright. I- I know I wasn't." He gestured awkwardly at his mechanical arm, and Lance felt his blood run cold.

He had never considered… The idea of Shiro reliving those traumatic experiences, just because he saw Lance being changed like this… It made him feel nauseous all over again. Shiro didn't deserve that past, and he definitely deserved better than being forced to think about it because of Lance.

"I- but- Shiro-" Lance couldn't find the words, too many things he wanted to say at once, too desperate to just hide and never make Shiro look at him again. He couldn't stand the thought of hurting Shiro-

"Lance, please. Breathe slowly - breathe with me, Lance."

Lance didn't realise he had started to hyperventilate until Shiro dragged him back out of his panic, his vision blurry at the edges, his arms and the outer two fingers on each hand tingling so intensely they felt paralysed - but Shiro was crouching before him, holding Lance's face in both hands - flesh and metal, _flesh and metal_ , so warm and big - and helping him _breathe._

Only when Lance's lungs started hurting and the feeling returned to his fingertips he noticed Shiro had his full face cupped, touching the thin, fin-like ears Lance had now, fingertips rubbing softly against his scalp not far behind his jaw.

Shiro was touching him, and he was not looking disgusted about it.

"It's so weird…" Shiro muttered, seemingly without thinking. "Your eyes are still exactly the same as before, but so much bigger, so much more intense… Like they're big gems nestled in your face, but the exact same shade as before, and just as expressive…"

Lance couldn't help it, the heat rising to his cheeks. If hyperventilating had left him flushed, his face was now _burning_.

He quickly grabbed Shiro's wrists, but he couldn't bring himself to push the other away.

"S-sorry about that, I didn't-"

"Don't apologise for having a panic attack," Shiro chastised mildly.

"No, I mean- I was just going to say that- that you didn't have to look after me. You-you don't have to look _at me_. If… it brings up bad memories, I mean."

Shiro's eyes had gone wide, and he was blinking as if not comprehending Lance's words at all. "Why, in the world - why would I _not_ want to look at you? There's nowhere I'd rather-" He cut himself short, and now Shiro was blushing too.

And that… now _that_ was interesting.

"Why… you like what you see?" Lance tried for a coy little smile, and the blush on Shiro's face immediately intensified. The fearless - _fearless_ \- leader stumbled back, failing to get his legs under him properly as he tried to back away from his crouch next to the tub and falling flat on his arse, face aflame over Lance's teasing.

"I thought you'd be disgusted by me, now I'm no longer a human," Lance admitted truthfully.

"I could _never_ -!"

Lance made an idle gesture down his long body, now covered hip-down with iridescent blue scales, tail ending with a large flared fin he could move with more detail than he could his toes before. "I just thought… if I couldn't catch your eye as a human, then certainly not as an alien. Even if I'm a mermaid alien."

"B-but you did- I mean-" Shiro coughed in his hand quickly. "You're still Lance. Nothing changed to me. You may have lost your legs and got a fin instead - and a few other things like the ears and the eyes and- and all that… but you're still you. You're the same Lance now that you were a week ago."

If not for the physical changes, Lance knew that his eyes would've been watering now. Be as it was, his tear ducts had narrowed down so far they could barely keep his eyes moist out of the water at all, let alone produce proper tears. But that didn't make Lance's voice less wavering, the knot in his throat less audible when he finally replied.

"T-thank you, Shiro. Thank you."


End file.
